The Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, Cllr Howard Sykes MBE, will be presenting the Group’s budget options to today’s Council meeting.
Cllr Sykes said that he: “recognises that this is a very challenging time to present a budget and that hard choices are having to be made within the administration’s budget proposals.
“As in previous years, we are seeking to challenge when appropriate, offer constructive suggestions and options to cut unnecessary spending and seek to put resources into the basic services affecting the majority of our residents.
The amounts involved are comparatively small but will have a positive impact on two key services in this borough.”
The Liberal Democrats are proposing investments in gully cleaning and youth services.
Cllr Sykes continued: “For just £165,000 we could reinstate the level of gully clearing carried out under the previous Liberal Democrat administration with a further three teams being employed to jet out gullies that have been filled with soil and other debris.
“Such an investment can be termed spend to save as jetting means clogged gullies do not have to be dug out at huge expense. It also ensures that there is less risk of homes flooding, less water and ice on the roads, which endangers drivers and pedestrians, and, in the long term, a reduction in damage to the roads caused by frozen water breaking the road surfaces.”
In its other spend to save measure, the Liberal Democrat Group wants to make available a further £272,000 in 2016/17 for investment in youth services by the District Partnerships/Executives.
Commenting, Cllr Sykes said: “The Liberal Democrats firmly believe that local ward councillors and local peopl know best where money can be best spent on services in their locality. Local knowledge and requirements should determine the allocation of this money in each of the districts.
The Youth Service is an excellent service and investment in it saves money in the long run as young people are productively engaged rather than – in some instances – engaging in crime and anti-social behaviour.
Our proposal will I hope be accepted by the administration in the same way they accepted our suggestion that this years cuts to District staffing be decreased.”
Deputy Leader Cllr McCann, who will be seconding the amendment, stated that the extra money for the proposed investment will be found “reducing management, council publications, subscriptions and conferences and increasing income from optional council services”.
The Liberal Democrat Group is also proposing that in 2016/17 (ie during the next financial year) a review of the number of councillors takes place, with a reduction in numbers being considered.
Cllr McCann added: “A reduction in Councillors to two per ward instead of three would generate a minimum saving of £212,000 per year. We believe that such a reduction is possible now we have a Council run by a Cabinet rather than committees. We know this proposal will be popular because this was one of the suggestions that came forward from the public in the consultation over the budget”.
Cllr McCann was also pleased to see that the Labour Administration has adopted one of his suggestions in last year’s Budget debate that budgets on the Council’s capital programme could be reduced because of delays and efficiencies that he had identified.
He stated: “Last year, some Labour Councillors were adamant that I wanted to put the redevelopment of Oldham and Royton town centres ‘on hold’. In fact my common sense suggestion was that the figures in Labour’s budget simply did not stack up. Put simply they were allocating more money than they could spend in the financial year given delays in the capital programme.
It is interesting that this year Labour have quietly slipped in this very same proposal to the tune of some £5 million, hardly small beer. I am delighted that by building on our suggestion some of the harsh cuts to services have been mitigated and actual efficiencies found “.